The British government is failing in its responsibility to resettle vulnerable refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria, aid agencies have told The Telegraph.

The United Nations hosted a conference in Geneva on Tuesday aimed at getting countries to pledge to take more refugees from Syria, which now faces the biggest humanitarian catastrophe in modern history.

Whilst many countries are participating at ministerial level, Britain is represented only by its Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and is not expected to make any meaningful commitment to resettle more refugees on its soil.

"We see this as a signal that Britain is not prioritising this [issue] as they should," said Camilla Jelbart Mosse, Syria campaign manager for Oxfam.

Britain has been heavily involved in the Syrian war, backing the opposition to the Syrian regime when protests began in 2011, and later providing non-lethal support to rebel groups. However, its borders have remained almost totally closed to Syrians whose livelihoods have been destroyed in the conflict.

Thus far the overwhelming burden of the refugee crises has fallen on countries neighbouring Syria, including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, who are now struggling to cope with an influx of more than four million people.

The UK declined to join the UN's resettlement programme - which was designed to help manage the burgeoning crisis - instead setting up its own Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme for Syrian refugees.

But under the scheme, which began this year, only 90 Syrians have been resettled in the UK.

The government has said it expects that number to grow into the "hundreds" over the next three years. Even if that is the case, international aid agencies have said, Britain will still be lagging behind in comparison to the help being offered by other European nations.

By contrast, Germany has so far resettled 20,000 Syrian refugees, and Sweden another 9,000.

"The [British] numbers are pitiful, and dwarfed by the need in the region," said Karla McLaren, government and political relations manager with Amnesty international. "By their own rules they could admit more people: the scheme is meant to be based on need rather than filling an established quota. But the number of places offered so far do not reflect this. The need is clearly much greater."

A means assessment by Oxfam of rich countries - supported by 35 other major international charitable organisations - claims that for the UK to play its role in managing the refugee crisis, it would need to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees on its soil by the end of 2015.

Throughout the war in Syria, the government has prioritised financing humanitarian projects in the region over giving asylum or resettlement opportunities.

A government spokesperson said: "The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, having pledged £700m, making us the second largest bilateral donor."

Whilst Oxfam and Amnesty International both welcomed that the UK's humanitarian aid commitments, the organisations said it did not justify the lack of commitment to refugee resettlement.

"The response that the UK is doing its bit by providing aid does not cut it," said Ms Mosse, campaign manager for Oxfam. "The resettlement programme is for people whose needs cannot be met in the region. They can and should be helping with both."

The United Nations World Food Program said on Tuesday that it was resuming food assistance to refugees from Syria in neighboring countries after it suspended the food vouchers programme last week due to lack of donations. The public response that arose from the announcement of the suspension led to donations that exceeded the $64 million needed for the program to continue.